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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to object to £50 school trip

285 replies

puffyisgood · 13/01/2019 16:20

Outer London state primary [lots of affluent parents but also plenty who aren't], yr 3 kids. Matinee of a [fairly popular, fairly new, child friendly] West End muscal. The trip costs parents £50 per child. The school coffers may even be topping up these contributions a little bit [e.g. to pay for transport & for helpers]. As I understand it the tickets were block booked in advance [of the trip being announced] for the entire class. As with all these things parents can announce that they're not paying, but with prebought tickets the money will have to come from somewhere. All the kids want to go of course. As it happens we can afford it easily enough but I know that plenty of other families can't.

I'm mulling over a stern letter to the head. Reasonable or not?

OP posts:
Chocolatecake12 · 13/01/2019 16:36

We had the same cost for the same trip. West end show, travel there and back and an ice cream in the interval. The difference is that they sent a letter gauging interest first.

Racecardriver · 13/01/2019 16:36

Is it possible that they are asking for so much in the expectation that many families won’t be able to pay?

huggybear · 13/01/2019 16:37

That's rubbish, even if people can afford it, it doesn't mean they should have to pay it. Let's not pretend a west end show is educational.

spanieleyes · 13/01/2019 16:37

No, schools can't charge extra to cover the costs of those that don;t pay.

Aeroflotgirl · 13/01/2019 16:38

Ringdonna I suggest you volunteer at your local Foobank and see the reality of a lot of people's lives.

Figgygal · 13/01/2019 16:40

That is a lot of money
I could afford it but a lot of people couldn't

Our school tells us cost of trips but says it's a voluntary donation and if they don't get minimum amount to run trip (without telling us what that is) they will need to cancel. the amount of people who don't pay £5 for their kids and putting at risk the ability for the rest of the kids to attend is mind boggling and it's always the same people who don't bother. I'd be sympathetic however to someone who can't find £50 for something like this

Eliza9917 · 13/01/2019 16:40

Surely most people can afford £50?

ODFOD.

sarahjconnor · 13/01/2019 16:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

gt84 · 13/01/2019 16:42

My kids have been on theatre trips with the school and I’m sure it cost us around £18.
£50 is a huge amount of money!

DGRossetti · 13/01/2019 16:43

RingDonna is an anagram of Amber Rudd, by the way ...

Charley50 · 13/01/2019 16:45

I think it's a lot. I live in a fairly affluent London borough and the only primary school trips that cost more than £10 involved overnight stays and activities involving risk.

Gigglebrain · 13/01/2019 16:46

@RINGDONNA.
it’s a fuck of a lot, I certainly couldn’t afford that, no where near.

HalfBloodPrincess · 13/01/2019 16:48

Similar happened in my dds primary at end of year 6. They said it was estimated at around £35 depending on how many children paid the £10 deposit to go. The less children that went, the more the trip price was bumped up per child that could go. I think I’m a class of 22 only 8 or 9 were able to pay, so the trip was cancelled in the end

SleepingStandingUp · 13/01/2019 16:49

I am lucky both my man and i are working now
Lots of perking families also couldn't afford this, use food banks and generally are poor too

slkk · 13/01/2019 16:49

We are doing a west end musical as an after sats treat, to introduce a new topic and to support our production. However, it is £30 and an evening so is voluntary. We have given parents 2 weeks to confirm if they want to come and have a form if they need financial help. Sometimes it’s worth doing these things, but we need to be careful about how it’s done.

ALongHardWinter · 13/01/2019 16:49

The PP who said 'Surely most people can afford £50?',this is exactly the sort of attitude that pisses me off. Yes,a lot of people CAN afford £50,but a hell of a lot of people can't.

3WildOnes · 13/01/2019 16:50

I doubt they will have to pay for seats they don’t need. Theatres are usually quite good about this.
It is a lot of money but it’s alao a great experience for the children.
I imagine all of the parents in my kids affluent outer London state primary would be able to afford £50. They will probably pay for those who can’t afford it anyway, I know ours would.

BoomBoomsCousin · 13/01/2019 16:50

I would be inclined not to contribute in order to discourage the school from doing the same ever again. I think that’s massively irresponsible and somewhat unethical.

VioletCharlotte · 13/01/2019 16:51

£50 is a lot of money. Primary school children don't need to go to west end theatre trips. This is a luxury that many adults could never afford. They would enjoy a show at the local theatre just as much and for a fraction of the price.

jessstan2 · 13/01/2019 16:51

I think it is expensive, a lot of people won't be able to afford it.

missyB1 · 13/01/2019 16:51

This reminds me of when my ds school decided the prom tickets were £50 - and that was 8 years ago! Yep £50 before anyone had even thought about clothes taxis etc.. I could afford it but I was furious on behalf of families who couldn't. I emailed the head to ask what provision was being made for children whose parents couldn't afford it, and were they going to be excluded from the prom. He ignored me.

I totally get it OP.

TeacupDrama · 13/01/2019 16:51

Ii would say most can afford £5-10 though some still couldn't
I would not pay £50 for a day trip for 1 person, and I think well over 50% of population would not be able to fork out £50 just like that, no trip at DD's primary costs more than £10 apart from the year 6 residential

AllTakenSoRubbishUsername · 13/01/2019 16:52

It's pretty reasonable for a WE musical but insensitive of the school not to check first. It would be heartbreaking if some of the kids couldn't go, especially as the others will be talking about it for ages.

Xenadog · 13/01/2019 16:52

That is a ridiculous amount. School tickets are usually cheap. If I was feeling particularly hacked off I’d ring the theatre and ask what they charge for a block booking of school tickets. If it’s significantly less than £50.00 I’d be contacting the school. Obviously the school needs to pay for transport too but they also (usually) get one free staff ticket per 10 kids at the theatre so no cost for staff places.

I work in an indie school and I would not dream of charging £50.00 per pupil to attend a jolly. Even in the private sector there’s parents who couldn’t afford this.

AllMYSmellySocks · 13/01/2019 16:53

I do think it's important for schools to expose children to things like the theatre as part of their wider education. That said I'm not sure whether this justifies the price tag or whether a group of Y3 children would get just as much out of a more local theatre trip. Personally as someone who can afford it I'd always be happy to pay for school trips if to average out the price for those who can't contribute.